Face and eye shield



June 17,194]. I JACKSON 2,246,442 7 FACE AND EYE SHIELD Filed Dec. 29, 1958 Hone] I 64. Jvwksan Patented June 17, 1941 UNITED-STATES PATENT OFFICE FACE AND EYE SHIELD Honel A. Jackson, Detroit, Mich.

Application December 29, 1938, Serial No. 248,336

3 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved transparent shield adapted to be worn to protect the face and eyes primarily from flying sparks, acid and flying particles that might otherwise injure the face or eyes; the invention being particularly adapted to replace goggles and spectacles such as are worn by workers in industrial plants and laboratories.

More particularly, it is an aim of this invention to provide an eye shield that may be economically manufactured, that will be light in weight, and that may be comfortably worn to provide a safety appliance that industrial workers will be willing to use.

Still a further aim of the invention, is to provide a transparent face and eye shield, preferably of a non-inflammable material, adapted to be pivotally mounted on a supporting headband and so disposed relativelythereto that the shield may be positioned in front of and along justable slide attachment I5.

the sides of the face and eyes and in spaced apart relationship thereto to allow for the free circulation of air between the shield and face, said shield being pivotally mounted for movement upwardly to a position above the head.

An important object of the invention is to provide a transparent shield of sufficient length and width that it may be bowed to extend along the front and sides of the face, and which will be sufficiently thin to reduce the angle of refraction to a minimum to prevent the shield from distorting the vision sufficiently to be injurious, and to provide means for reinforcing the straight edge of said shield and for pivotally connecting it to a headband whereby the shield, when the headband is in position, may be moved into and out of position in front of the eyes and face.

Still another aim of the invention, is to pro- 7 vide means for pivotally supporting the shield relatively to the headband having clamping attachments for adjustably positioning the shield relatively to the band whereby the shield may be fixed in adjusted position relatively to the eyes and face of the wearer.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawing, which illustrates a preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the shield,

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the same,

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the same, and

Figures 4 and 5 are vertical sectional views The reinforcing member ll, preferably formed of a strip of inelastic material, which may be either sufficiently flexible to be bent into the bow shaped form, as best seen in Figure l, or which may be molded into this shape, is provided with openings l8 adjacent its ends, as illustrated in Figure 5. Bolts 19 are mounted in the inelastic portion H adjacent its ends, and project outwardly therefrom to be loosely engaged by the openings 18 to pivotally mount the member it relatively to the headband ll]. Spacing washers 20 are mounted on the bolts I9 between portions I I and I! to space said portions from each other, and the outer ends of the bolts [9 are preferably threaded and provided with the spacing washers 2| and the wing nuts 22, which retain the parts in assembled positionand by means of which the member I! may be clamped between the spacing members 20 and 2| to adjustably fix member l'l relatively to the headband iii.

A sheet 23 has a substantially straight longitudinal edge 24 which is adapted to be disposed along the top edge of member H. The ends of the sheet 23 terminate in spaced apart relationship to the openings l8, and said sheet is adapted to be secured adjacent its upper edge to the outer sid of the member I! by means of the spaced fastenings 25 so that the sheet will be disposed in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the member I1 and be curved to correspond to the curve of said member;

Sheet 23 is preferably formed of a thin transparent material which may be clear or colored and which is preferably non-inflammable. The sheet 23 may be molded into the bowed shape, as illustrated, but is preferably held in this shape by being secured along and adjacent its edge 24 to its reinforcing member H. The remaining edges of sheet 23 are bound and reinforced by the channel shaped binding strip 26.

Portion ll intermediate of its ends is provided with the spaced portions of separable fasteners 21 the other halves of which are secured to the fabricated sweat-band designated generally 28,

which as best seen in Figure 4, is formed of a plurality of thicknesses to provide a thick cushion strip for the forehead.

Headband I0 is adapted to be positioned to fit comfortably about the head with its inelastic portion II to the front and encircling the forehead of the wearer, said portion being of sufficient length so that its ends are disposed substantially above the ears of the wearer. When the band I0 is thus positioned on the head and the shield 23 is disposed relatively thereto, as illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3, said shield will be positioned to extend around the front of the face, above and beneath the eyes, and along the sides of the face back to points adjacent the ears of the wearer to thereby provide a shield adapted not only to protect the eyes but also the greater portion of the face from flying objects, sparks or acid. Member ll and the sheet 23 are bowed to provide a substantial space between the inelastic portion II and the member 11 so that the shield 23 is spaced outwardly from the front portion of the face to provide a space to allow for the free passage of air to prevent the shield from being hot and uncomfortable to the wearer and to prevent the shield from becoming fogged by different atmospheric conditions on opposite sides thereof. Furthermore, member I! is bowed outwardly sufficiently to space the shield 23 from the nose so that it will not be in contact therewith. Toward the ends of the shield 23, the member I1 is disposed closer to the head so that said ends are positioned relatively close to the sides of the face just in front of the ears. The curve of the memher i! and shield 23 is sufiicient to allow it to swing upwardly through an arc of substantially 90 to a position above the forward part of the head if desired. This is very important since the wearer may thus move the shield out of position in front of the face temporarily, when desired, without actually removing it from the head as for example when he temporaril leaves his work or leaves a dangerous area and as the shield may be readily returned to its position in front of the face there will not be the same tendency to risk danger temporarily as exists where the protecting appliance is entirely removed and not again replaced promptly before beginning work again.

Various modifications and changes in the precise construction and arrangement of the parts forming the invention are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to, and the right is therefore expressly reserved to make such varia tions and changes as fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. An eye and face shield comprising a supporting headband including an inelastic forehead portion, bolts mounted in and projecting outwardly from said forehead portion adjacent its ends, an arcuately shaped reinforcing member having openings adjacent its ends to engage said bolts, the distance along said member between said openings being greater than the distance along said forehead portion between said bolts whereby said reinforcing member will be disposed in spaced apart relationship to said inelastic portion, a sheet of relatively thin transparent material having a straight edge disposed along said reinforcing member and terminating short of the openings therein, fastening means connecting said sheet at a plurality of points along said edge to the reinforcing member, said sheet forming an arcuately shaped shield adapted to be positioned in front of the face and movable upwardly therefrom through an arc of substantiall 90", clamping means carried by said bolts for clamping the reinforcing member in a plurality of positions relatively to said inelastic portion to thereby adjustably position said shield relatively to the headband and to the face and eyes of the wearer.

2. A face and eye shield comprising a headband having an inelastic bowed forehead portion, threaded bolts extending outwardly through said forehead portion adjacent its ends, a bowed reinforcing member having openings adjacent its ends for engaging the bolts for pivotally mounting the reinforcing member relatively to the headband and for positioning it in outwardly bowed spaced relationship relatively to the forehead portion, spacing means carried by the bolts for spacing the ends of the reinforcing member from the forehead portion; a sheet of thin flexible transparent material forming a shield, having an edge secured to the reinforcing member to support the shield in an outwardly bowed position relativel to the forehead portion and in a depending position relatively to the reinforcing member; and nuts carried by the bolts for clamping the reinforcing member relativel to the forehead portion for fixedly disposing the shield in a plurality of adjusted positions relatively to the headband.

3. An eye and face shield comprising, in combination, a supporting headband including a relatively stiff portion curved to engage the forehead of the wearer and adapted to extend rearwardly on opposite sides of the wearers head, threaded members mounted in the rearward extending sections of said forehead-engaging portion and projecting outwardly therefrom, an arcuately shaped reinforcing band having openings in its ends receiving said threaded members and serving to pivotally connect the reinforcing band to the forward portion of the headband, the distance along said reinforcing band between its openings being greater than the distance along said forehead-engaging portion between said threaded members so as to dispose intermediate portions of the reinforcing band in spaced relation to the forehead portion of the headband, a sheet of relatively thin transparent material having its upper edge secured to said reinforcing band and extending along the reinforcing band toward the openings therein but terminating short thereof, said sheet assuming the curvature of said reinforcing band and swingable by virtue of said pivotal connection from a protecting position in front of the face to a position over the top of the head of the wearer, and nuts threaded on the outer extremity of said threaded members acting to frictionally clamp the ends of said reinforcing band to the forehead portion of the headband, said nuts being accessible to the hands of the wearer and capable of threaded adjustment while said shield is being worn to vary the frictional clamping action.

HONEL A. JACKSON. 

